Chapter 7 Piper
"Okay, so according to Reddit, you're legally allowed to keep the engagement ring in most states," Maya said, scrolling through her phone with one hand while shoving lo mein leftovers into her mouth with the other. "But morally, some people think you should give it back if he paid for it."
"He can have the ring," I said, picking at my own container of fried rice. "I don't want it."
“Okay, so… Maybe we pawn it? Use the money for a 'congratulations on dodging a bullet' vacation." She kept scrolling. "Oh, here's a good one: 'I canceled my wedding two weeks before and my vendor contract said no refunds, but I threatened to leave a bad Yelp review and they gave me half back.'"
"I'm not threatening anyone with Yelp reviews."
"Why not? Capitalism is a hellscape, babe. Use every weapon in your arsenal." She set down her phone and looked at me. "How are you doing? Like, actually?"
I pushed a piece of broccoli around my container. "I don't know. Numb? Angry? Sad? All of it at once?"
"That's valid."
"I keep thinking about the wedding cake leftovers in the fridge. They’re just sitting there in our… in his apartment. And I spent hours thinking about what buttercream would be best—” My voice cracked. "God, I'm crying about buttercream. That's pathetic."
"It's not pathetic. The buttercream is a metaphor."
"For what?"
"I don't know, I'm not an English major. But it's definitely a metaphor."
I laughed, the sound of it strangled and weak, but I laughed. And that’s when the doorbell rang. We both froze, chopsticks suspended mid-air.
Maya set down her food and stood up. "If that's my neighbor asking to borrow eggs again, I swear to God—"
She walked to the door, and I heard her sharp intake of breath when she looked through the peephole. When she came back into the living room, her expression was somewhere between fury and disbelief.
"It's Liam."
My stomach dropped. Then immediately filled with something hot and sharp.
"Want me to tell him to fuck off?" Maya asked, already turning back toward the door. "Because I will absolutely tell him to fuck off. In great detail. With hand gestures."
"No." I stood up, setting down my food. "I'll talk to him."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." I was surprised by how steady my voice sounded. "I have some things to say."
Maya studied my face for a second, then nodded. "Okay. But I'm staying right here. If he tries anything—and I mean anything—I'm calling his captain. Or the cops. Or both. Maybe animal control, just for fun."
"Maya."
"I'm serious. One wrong move and I'm reporting him for... public douchebaggery. That's a crime, right?"
God, how I loved my sister.
I walked to the door and pulled it open.
Liam looked like hell. His hair was a mess, his eyes bloodshot, his clothes rumpled like he'd slept in them. Which he probably had. For a second there I almost felt sorry for him.
Then I noticed the long dark hair on his shoulder. Caught the sharp, citrus scent of perfume. Not mine. Never mine.
"Were you with her?" The words came out cold and flat.
"What?" He blinked, confused. "No. Piper, I came here to talk to you—"
"You have her hair on your shirt. And you smell like her perfume."
His hand went to his shoulder automatically, brushing at the hair like he could make it disappear. "She came over to check on me. That's it. Nothing happened."
"She came over." I crossed my arms. "To your apartment. This morning."
"Our apartment," he corrected, and I wanted to scream. "And yes, but I told her to leave. I told her I needed to talk to you, to fix things—"
"Fix things." I laughed, sharp and bitter. "You think you can fix this?"
"Piper, please. Just listen to me." He stepped closer and I moved back instinctively. His face crumpled. "I know I fucked up. I know. But we can work through this. People make mistakes. We can go to counseling, we can… I don’t know, we can postpone the wedding if we need to, give ourselves time—"
"Postpone the wedding."
"Just until we work things out. Until you're ready—"
"I'm ready now, Liam. I'm ready to cancel it."
"Don't say that." His voice cracked. "Don't say that. We've been together six years. Six years, Piper. That has to mean something."
"It did mean something. It meant everything." My voice was shaking now, but not from sadness. From rage. "Until you decided it didn't."
"That's not fair.”
"Fair?" I stepped forward, and he actually moved back.
"You want to talk about fair? You had your tongue down another woman's throat at the station.
You've been lying to me for four months.
Four months, Liam. While I planned our wedding.
While I stayed up late baking cupcakes for you to taste.
While I addressed invitations and picked out flowers and talked to your mother about the rehearsal dinner. You were fucking someone else."
"I wasn’t thinking… I never meant for it to—"
"Don't." I held up a hand. "Don't you dare try to minimize this. I saw you. I saw her legs wrapped around you. I saw exactly what you were about to do."
His face went white. "Piper…"
"And now you're here, with her perfume still on you, telling me we can fix this?" I laughed, and it sounded unhinged even to my own ears. "You can't even go twelve hours without seeing her."
"Nothing happened. I swear to God, nothing happened. I told her to leave and—”
"I don't care." And I realized, saying it out loud, that I meant it. "I don't care what happened or didn't happen with her this morning. You already destroyed this. You destroyed us."
"We can fix it," he said again, desperately. "Piper, please. Think about the wedding. Think about everyone who's coming. My parents, your parents… they've spent so much money. We can't just—"
I stepped forward and jabbed my finger into his chest.
"I don't give two fucks about the wedding, Liam."
He opened his mouth but I kept going, punctuating each sentence with another poke to his sternum.
"I don't care about the deposits or the guests or what your mother thinks or how much money anyone spent.
I cared about YOU." My voice cracked but I didn't stop.
"I cared about our future. About building a life together.
About Sunday mornings and stupid arguments about whose turn it was to do the dishes and growing old and all the little things I thought we'd have. "
"We can still have that.”
"No, we can't. Because YOU wrecked it." Another jab. "You threw it all away for four months of sneaking around with her. So if you think, if you actually think, that I'm going to save this wedding just to spare you the embarrassment?" I shook my head. "You're out of your goddamn mind."
"Piper—"
"I am MORE than happy to burn this whole thing down myself."
"You're being unreasonable." His voice was rising now. "You need to calm down and think about—"
"Calm down?" I laughed again. "You cheated on me and you're telling me to calm down?"
"I'm trying to fix this and you won't even listen to—“
"We're done, Liam."
"No." He shook his head, desperate. "I'm not giving up on us.”
"That's not your choice anymore," I said, and my voice was steady. Cold. "The wedding's off. We're off. I don't want to see you.”
"That's bullshit," he said, louder now. "You don't get to make that decision on your own.”
"Okay, that's enough." Maya appeared behind me, her voice sharp. She stepped around me, putting herself partially between us. "Time to go."
"This is between me and Piper," Liam said.
"And I'm telling you to leave."
"She's my fiancée.”
"Ex-fiancée," Maya corrected. "And you're standing outside my apartment harassing my sister, so either you walk away right now or I'm calling your captain and telling him one of his firefighters can't take no for an answer."
Liam's jaw clenched. "You can't—"
"I absolutely can. And I will, with details. Want me to tell him about Jenna too? She’s your subordinate, right? Lieutenant sleeping with someone under his command… I bet that’ll go over great."
His face went red. For a second, I thought he might actually try to push past Maya, but then something in him deflated. He looked at me, his eyes desperate.
"Piper, please. I love you."
"You should have thought about that in March," I said quietly.
He stood there for another long moment, like he was waiting for me to change my mind. When I didn't, when I just stared back at him with my arms crossed, he finally turned and walked away.
I watched him disappear down the stairs before stepping back inside. Maya closed the door and locked it. Deadbolt, chain, everything.
Then she turned to look at me.
"Holy shit, girl."
My hands were shaking. My whole body was shaking. I felt like I'd just run a marathon or jumped out of a plane or done something equally insane.
"That was…” Maya shook her head, a grin spreading across her face. "That was fucking amazing."
And then I started crying.
Not sad crying. Not heartbroken crying. Angry, relieved, exhausted crying that came out in huge, gasping sobs that made my whole body shake.
Maya pulled me into a hug and held on tight.
"You did good," she said into my hair. "You did so good."
I nodded against her shoulder, unable to speak.
Liam was gone, and the wedding was off. My entire future had just imploded.
And for the first time since I'd walked into that station yesterday, I felt like I could breathe.